The Showroom

Communal Knowledge

Communal Knowledge is a programme of collaborative projects where artists and designers are invited to work with community groups, organisations, schools and individuals from The Showroom’s neighbourhood.

Set up in 2010, Communal Knowledge has responded to numerous local, social and political shifts. Through conversations around shared interests and concerns, projects aim to generate playful and experimental avenues for critical reflection on issues at stake locally.

The Church Street area, NW8, is bordered by the Edgware Road, Regent's Canal, Lisson Grove and the Westway, and is known for its distinctive and diverse communities from across the Middle East and Africa. Culturally and community rich, the neighbourhood also has the fourth lowest median household income of all the wards in London and 50 per cent of children live below the poverty line.

Much of the emphasis is on finding ways to re-think or ‘unlearn’ established norms, values, codes, roles and relations, to create visibility, and to produce an alternative body of knowledge gained through communal activity and experience. Projects can take the form of commissions which develop through a year-long series of workshops and research, culminating in a presentation or event in the gallery space; or they can function as long-term collaborations, some of which are off-site, embedded within the local community.

Our approach is unique in the way in which we build strong relationships through projects developed over the long-term, and in how we regard each and every person involved in them as a collaborator. Trust and a conscious awareness of process and the impact a project can have beyond its existence, are key to our way of working. Some groups and individuals are now starting to get involved in projects within our broader programme, or in some cases are taking on a more proactive role within artistic productions.

For more information or to get involved please contact The Showroom or phone 020 7724 4300.

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Communal Knowledge Curator 2010–2018: Louise Shelley

Local groups and organisations:

Ada Court
Church Street Neighbourhood Management
City of Westminster College
DreamArts
Fourth Feathers
Independent Workers of Great Britain
Justice for Domestic Workers
King Solomon Academy
Marylebone Bangladesh Society
Marylebone Project
Penfold Community Hub at 60 Penfold Street
Portman Early Childhood Centre
Pursuing Independent Pathways [PIP]
Quintin Kynaston School
The Cockpit Theatre
The Migrants Resource Centre
The Prince's Trust
The Seymour Homeless Art Collective
Westminster Adult Education services

Communal Knowledge is generously supported by Paul Hamlyn Foundation, City Bridge Trust, The City of London Corporation’s Charity, John Lyon’s Charity, and Garfield Weston Foundation.

Current

  1. Communal-knoweledge-_esav
    Event On Focus: Communal Knowledge At Large: Monday 24 February

  2. Still_roman_algerien2-katia-kameli-2
    Event On Focus: Communal Knowledge At Large - Sunday 23 February

  3. 72568552_10159075222073782_5167744718297104384_o
    Event Curating as a Collaborative Practice: Dream City

  4. Henda_a_city_called_mirage_2014-2017_courtesy_the_artist_dsc_1598
    Event On Focus: Communal Knowledge At Large - Saturday 22 February

  5. Joe-namy-disguised-as-a-dance-floor-_le18-michael_huard-3
    Event Disguised as a Dance Floor

  6. The_fictional_biennale_map
    Event Curating as Collaborative Practice: The Fictional Marrakech Biennale

  7. Colour_chart_section_1
    Text Navine G. Khan-Dossos: POLYCHROMY PLAYS

  8. Image001
    Event 365 Days of Invisible Work

  9. Screen_shot_2016-11-07_at_11.10.32_am
    Event Learning in a Public Medium

  10. 01908
    Event OPEN CALL: Communal Knowledge

  11. Brows_logo
    Event Brows Magazine Launch

  12. Nika
    Nika Dubrovsky Anthropology for Kids

  13. Otherstorieshivaids_showroom_web
    Event Other Stories of HIV/AIDS: Culture, History, and the Ongoing Epidemic

  14. Keys
    Event Public  Meeting | Cooperatives and their potential for artists and art institutions

  15. Fiona
    Event Fiona Jack: Using our hands to Organise

  16. School
    Event Schooling & Culture launch events

  17. Fete
    Event Penfold Street Fete

  18. 5434e9a6625a92a89f1072dc077d2d82
    Event Micro Rainbow Refugee Week Fundraiser

  19. Img_9567-1
    Event Cristina Lina > Public Play exhibition at IOE

  20. Participation-1
    Text Annette Krauss: [In]visible Spaces of Equality

  21. Lah_exhibit_2012_image_1
    Text Lawrence Abu Hamdan: Aural Contract: The Freedom of Speech Itself

  22. Ps
    Video Film looking at The Showroom's local work

  23. Screen_shot_2016-06-09_at_15.17.12
    Exhibition Communal Knowledge at Work

  24. Showroom_-_uriel_tincture-ointment_workshop_dan_weill_photography-154
    Event Putting the Medicinal Garden to Use

  25. Showroom-medicinal_garden-uriel_dan_weill_photography-58
    Event Medicinal garden launch and tour with Uriel Orlow and Michael Heinrich

  26. Wwy_flyer_front_small
    Event People Make Videos Open Workshop

  27. Pmv_cover
    Text People Make Videos, a manual for making community videos

  28. 01_take_over_the_showroom
    Event Take Over | Fourth Feathers TV: Gallery as a Neighbourhood Model

  29. Fftv
    Video FFTV: Gallery as a Neighbourhood Model

  30. Fftv
    Video FFTV: Boxing